Spring Riding Tips: Thawing Out Your Machine

Time to wake up sleeping beauty.

For much of the country, winter is finally waving goodbye and that means it’s time to take our beloved ATVs and UTVs out of hibernation.

We’ve assembled some helpful tips to make the process as painless on both you and on your machine as possible.

1) Battery

If you thought ahead and left your vehicle’s battery on a trickle charger for the long winter, you should be good to go on this one. If, like us, you took your chances, pressing the button can be a total crap-shoot. If winter sucked away the battery’s charge, we recommend hooking up to a battery charger to top it back off rather than simply jump starting as the surge of energy from a car or truck battery can do damage to the electronics. If, after a full charge, the battery is still too weak to fire up your machine, replacement is your only option. A government mandated lower levels of lead means batteries of all type simply don’t have the longevity of yesteryear.

2) Tires and Brakes

Perhaps the hardest hit areas of extended periods of inactivity are those closest to the ground. There’s a very good possibility your tires will have lost a lot of their pressure over time. Checking each and filling them to spec is a given. However, take this opportunity to check for flat spots, dry rot cracking or anything you may have picked up before parking the vehicle.

While you’re in the area, give the brakes a good once-over. Rotors in particular tend to rust up over periods of inactivity. Usually a little surface rust will quickly dissipate with use but if the brakes pulsate when applied, the rotors have warped and will need replacing.

3) Rodent Check

Pop off the seat, check all the cracks and crevices. Our vehicles make great homes for rodents looking to settle down for the winter. The telltale sign is usually areas packed with leaves, insulation, fabric or other shred-able material. Clean this away and inspect for damage to things to nearby wires and lines.

4) Air Filter

Be sure to pop the airbox lid and examine your filter element. Not only do air boxes make perfect rodent dormitories, it’s also very possible months of cold, dry air have dried out or even started to disintegrate your filter element.

5) Fuel

If you were smart, you remembered to drain your fuel tank before putting the quad away. If you’re like us, you’re going to want to do that now. Ethanol has a very short shelf life and worst still, it absorbs water from the air itself. If you’re too lazy to perform a tank drain, at the very least we’d recommend adding enzyme fuel treatment to counteract the ethanol and perhaps a little octane boost.

6) Oil Change

This is a good time to change that last season oil as sitting for long periods is doing this precious lubricant no favors. Always remember to change that filter when you perform an oil change.

7) Check That Chassis

The last thing we usually look for before blowing out the cobwebs on the trail is those areas on the underbody due for some grease. Lube up here applicable and be sure to wiggle things like the wheels to check the bearings for play. While you’re there, be sure to look at the tie rods / A-arms for damage and check things like CV boots for tears or cracks.